


More important

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Friendship, Gen, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 11:25:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17079431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Gwaine and Percival are on a campaign with the others. Somehow they manage to get lost.





	More important

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoatSenpai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoatSenpai/gifts).



> Dear GoatSenpai! Have a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. I hope you like what I came up with. 
> 
> Thanks to my dear beta reader who translates my stuff into readable English. Everything still in there is my own fault, not hers. 
> 
> Thanks, mods, for once again letting me play.
> 
> Have a great time, everyone!

Gwaine couldn't really see where he was riding. He trusted his horse to follow the one in front of him and that the one in the front wouldn't lose it's way or just tumble over a cliff that nobody could see. It had been snowing for hours and they should have returned to Camelot a few days ago.

The winter had started out nice. Cold, but clear blue skies and they had been confident they'd make it back in time for the festivities. Then over night, temperatures had dropped even more and a cold wind came in from the north, first bringing some icy rain and then the snow. They had to wait for a couple of days before they could continue their journey. The morning of sunshine had fooled them to break camp and continue. Around noon, the snowfall had set in again. 

Gwaine was cold and miserable like everyone else and hoped that Arthur would have the decency to at least make them set up camp again really soon or they would all catch their death.

Once more, he made out the silhouette of Percival in front of him. The tall young man had been quiet for most of the campaign. Then again, he hadn't said much since they had met. Gwaine wondered what was going on in his head.

They were a mixed bunch, all coming from different backgrounds. Leon, with his noble upbringing and firm belief that nothing a king could do was ever wrong. Himself, who didn't care at all about his noble descent and with a huge grudge on most nobility, apart from Arthur, but then, he had a good head on his shoulders and a manservant to steer him into the right direction. Then there was Lancelot, who wanted to be a noble so badly that it was almost ridiculous. Last but not least Elyan, the son of a blacksmith. 

Gwaine didn't know much about the younger knights that accompanied them, but they didn't really belong to the inner circle around Arthur anyway. He didn't know much about Percival either. The man had only told them that his whole village had been destroyed and that he would fight for Camelot now. It was quite comical as Percival had never set foot into Camelot before he had decided to follow Arthur. 

So, who was he? Tall, good-looking, built like a fighter. What exactly had his place in the village he came from been? He was too well-trained in sword-fighting to be a lowly peasant and had the muscles of someone who worked with weapons, not those of a farmer. 

As Gwaine pondered all this, he wasn't paying attention to where the rest of the group was or where they were going. He could hardly see Percival in front of him and if Arthur didn't give the sign to stop, he would...he didn't know what, but give the princess a piece of his mind as soon as they were safe and dry again. 

Suddenly, Percival's horse stopped and his own, who had been just trotting along, almost ran into its rear. 

"Hey, what are you doing? Don't you want to get home?"

The tall knight turned to look at him. "I think we lost them."

"What? Who?" Gwaine looked around. Not that he could see much, but there were no other sounds than their horses' and their own breathing and the snow falling. "Didn't..."

Percival shrugged. "I was hoping my horse was following the one in front of it."

"What are we going to do now? Do you have any idea where we might be?" Gwaine didn't like this. He hadn't liked it in the beginning, but now they were seperated from the group he liked it even less. If they didn't find shelter soon, they were surely going to freeze to death during the night. 

"I'm not certain, but I think I've been to this part of the woods before. There should be..." The knight didn't say more but made a clicking sound with his tongue, so his horse started moving again.

Gwaine decided to pay more attention and stay closeby. There wasn't much to say and he was busy keeping his teeth from clattering. 

After a while that seemed like an eternity, Percival nodded and urged his horse on a bit.

A little village appeared out of the curtain of snow and Gwaine had never been so relieved. There even was a tavern, maybe they were lucky and could spend the night drying and getting warm? 

He didn't care that their red cloaks clearly gave them away as knights of Camelot when he followed Percival into the little yard towards what seemed to be stables. He was cold, he was tired but if someone didn't like their presence, he was ready to fight them for a warm place to stay. 

Percival dismounted and handed Gwaine the reigns of his horse before he entered the main building worldlessly. A few minutes later, he came back out and motioned for Gwaine to follow him. 

"They are granting two tired knights asylum for the night?" Gwaine's mood immediately lifted. 

"For as long as we need."

They led their horses into the stables and when they took off the saddles, they rubbed them dry with straw before feeding them. Gwaine would never be too tired to do this. Of course it was nice that they had people to do that for them back at the citadel, but the animal had carried him through the snow all day and was just as tired and hungry as he was, so the least he could do was to make sure that the mare was as comfortable as possible. 

Percival's horse snuffled at his shoulder and that was the first time Gwaine thought he saw something like a smile on the big man's face. He thought he heard a "Dumb horse", but whispered so lovingly that it made Gwaine smile. 

"Let's get inside, I'm freezing my arse off."

"Aren't you complaining all the time that it hurts from riding all day? Once it freezes off, it won't hurt anymore."

Was that...had Percival really just teased him? That was a first. Gwaine laughed. There was a weird kind of logic in what he had said, but he hoped that he wouldn't get in a situation that proved it. "Just move."

The warmth in the room was almost too much after so much time in the cold. Gwaine's face immediately started feeling like it was glowing and it almost hurt. 

A chubby woman came into the room. "So, you are the knights? Where's the rest of you? The king usually doesn't send just two of you."

"They had to take a different route." Gwaine already huddled by the fireplace and held his stiff fingers out towards the flames. 

The woman laughed. "Lost your party, haven't you? Hey, that can happen in weather like this. I'm sure you boys are hungry."

Gwaine almost chuckles at how Percival perked up. He was hungry, too, but the tall knight was known for eating more than any of them. 

"Thought so. The room is upstairs, first one to the left. It's right above this room, so it won't be too cold tonight. See if you have anything still dry in your saddle bags and get out of your wet clothes. When you come back down, the stew will be ready."

A bit reluctantly, Gwaine left his spot by the fireplace, but he knew the woman was right. Even if none of their garments were still dry, they still needed to get out of the chainmail anyway, before it started to rust.

"Room? Did she say 'room'?" He asked as they climbed the stairs. 

"Mhmmm."

"Just one?"

"Yes."

Alright. That was...they weren't at the castle, so yes, they could share a room. It probably wasn't such a big thing either. Percival was big and would produce a lot of body heat, so he wouldn't freeze sleeping...if he was able to find some space in the bed at all. 

Percival entered the room and looked around. 

"It'll do." Gwaine decided.

 

Miraculously, there were a few things in their bags that were cold, but dry and Gwaine already felt a lot better now that he had discarded the wet cloak and the chainmail and everything that came with it. He had an old sweater and a pair of socks that had seen better days, but at least they were dry and would warm up. That his breeches were still wet couldn't be helped, but they would dry if he just sat close enough to the fireplace. 

Percival was in a rather similar outfit when they padded down the stairs, their wet boots in hand and their cloaks over their arms. 

"Just on time!" The woman put two bowls of hot stew on the table next to the fireplace. "Put your boots over there and give me the cloaks, I'll hang them up, they should be dry in the morning. Now sit down and dig in." She provided them with two tankards of mead before she took care of their cloaks. 

That was all of the invitation they needed and it didn't take long for them to empty their bowls and gratefully accept a second helping. 

When their stomachs were filled and the icy cold slowly left their bodies, fingers and toes could be moved normally and their faces had stopped glowing, they sat by the fireplace, nursing their meads. 

"This is actually quite nice." Gwaine stretched.

"Yes."

"A good meal, a warm place to be, snow falling. It's almost peaceful."

"Mhmm."

Alright, Percival didn't seem to be interested in conversation and was back to his usual one-syllable answers. 

"Are you tired?"

Percival threw him a look. "No, not overly so. You?"

"Nah." Gwaine shook his head. He was tired, but he wouldn't leave his place by the fire if he could help it. "Feels almost like when I was a kid." He sipped from his drink. 

"They gave you mead when you were little? Explains a few things."

There was no sign of a smile on Percival's face, but Gwaine laughed. "Probably. What did you do as a child in winter?"

The tall knight didn't say anything for a while and Gwaine thought he'd probably gone too far, the question too personal to ask. 

"When it started snowing, I was the first out the door to build a snowman, no matter how much I got scolded for being out in the cold later." A sad smile showed on Percival's face. "Then we would sit around the fire and listen to the stories one of the elders told. Sometimes there was tea and for Yule we got a special treat." 

Silence fell. Gwaine tried to imagine the child Percival might have been. Had he always been so quiet or was that just a result of what he had to endure? "And then..."

"Then I grew up and one day while I was gone, my village was destroyed." Percival sighed. 

Gwaine nodded. He knew that story, Lancelot had told them when he brought Percival along. "Did you..." He asked after another long silence. "Did you have someone special?"

Without taking his eyes away from the flames, Percival nodded once. 

Reaching over, Gwaine squeezed his shoulder. 

"What about you? Did you have that special someone?"

Gwaine chuckled. "Everywhere I go."

"Thought so." Percival huffed. 

"You know...it's more important to have friends by your side than a sweetheart somewhere." This thing as a knight of Camelot was the longest committment he'd ever made and he found a lot of friends, so he was happy.

Percival turned his head and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He raised his tankard. "To friendship."

"To friendship." Gwaine drank and settled back into his chair, wiggling his toes. No matter how long they'd be stuck here or how far they were away from the town, life was good.


End file.
